Buhari approves TV broadcast licences
Nigeria president Muhammadu Buhari has approved the issuance of new licences to broadcasting outfits in the country.
This news was announced by Ishaq Modibbo-Kawu, director-general of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), at the opening of the 71st General Assembly of Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) in Port Harcourt.
Of the new licences, 23 were DTT television licences while two were for national television.
Modibbo-Kawu said that, at 213 total licences, this was the largest number of stations ever licensed at any point in Nigerian broadcasting history.
“Our industry is opening up and the importance of broadcasting will become greater as a contributor to the economic fortunes. It is also a platform of moulding the values of national development,” he said.
Meanwhile, the NBC boss voiced concerns over reports of hate speech being broadcast on Nigerian TV networks.
Referring to a case study around the issue from the 2015 general elections, Modibbo-Kawu said: “The validation report from that study has been presented in Kano, Enugu and Sokoto. We will similarly present the report very soon in Lagos and at a big national gathering of broadcasters and other national institutions in Abuja.”
He also informed broadcasting outfits that they would be held liable for any violation of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code. Regarding the ongoing digital switch-over, he said work had been completed on digital mapping of the country.
tagged in: Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria, Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, Muhammadu Buhari, National Broadcasting Commission